Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. Reports Favorable Federal Court Decision on Bank Insurance Sales
Jan 13 2005 // The Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) on Thursday announced that the U.S. District Court has issued a favorable opinion in its declaratory judgment action, resolving a critical case for banks that want to engage in...
Mass. AG Probes Municipal Health Insurance Buying
Jan 11 2005 // The Massachusetts attorney general is expanding his probe into the commissions that insurers pay insurance brokers who promote their products to include contracts with cities and towns. The investigation by Attorney...
Mass. Prison Officer Indicted for Comp Fraud
Jan 5 2005 // A former Bristol County (Mass.) Corrections Officer has been indicted for working while collecting workers’ compensation benefits, according to Attorney General Tom Reilly. Kevin J. Mello, of South Dartmouth was...
Despite Residual Market Changes in Mass., Commerce Insurance to Offer 5% AAA Group Discount
Jan 5 2005 // Despite new rules restricting its ability to reinsure individual high risk members of groups in the residual market, Commerce Insurance Company plans to again file with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance a five...
Commerce Insurance Goes to Court Over Newly-Approved Mass. Auto Assigned Risk Plan
Jan 5 2005 // The Commerce Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Commerce Group, Inc., has filed an action in Massachusetts Superior Court, Suffolk County, in response to the rules published by the Division of Insurance...
Mass. Gay Couple Seeks Benefits in R.I.
Jan 4 2005 // The Tiverton Rhode Island School Committee has asked a Superior Court judge whether it can extend health care coverage to the same-sex spouse of a retired high school teacher. Cheryl McCullough, who worked as a health...
MISCLASSIFIED IN MASS:
Jan 3 2005 // Employers seeking to avoid Massachusetts payroll taxes and some employee benefits are wrongly classifying thousands of workers as self-employed or independent contractors, according to a report by the University of...
Mass. Lawmakers Approve Anti-Runner Bill
Dec 29 2004 // Massachusetts lawmakers have passed an insurance fraud bill that targets so-called “runners” who recruit others to participate in staged car accidents to collect the insurance. The bill makes the practice a...
Mass. Gov. Romney Nixes LTC Tax Break
Dec 23 2004 // Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is blocking a bill that Democratic lawmakers hoped would expand access to insurance for long term care, saying the state can’t afford a tax cut that would cause a $10 million annual...
From Maine to Virginia … What Happened in 2004
Dec 20 2004 // Leaving aside the insurance brokerage compensation investigations, the World Trade Center trial, the St. Paul-Travelers merger and the UnumProvident settlement, all of which have their roots in this region but grew to...
Berkshire Bank Buys Woronoco Savings Bank and Insurance Agencies in Mass.
Dec 20 2004 // Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (AMEX: BHL), the holding company for Berkshire Bank in Pittsfield, Mass., has agreed to purchase Woronoco Bancorp, Inc. (AMEX: WRO), the holding company for Woronoco Savings Bank, including...
Average Rate Cut Slightly, Inexperienced Drivers to Pay More, Under 2005 Mass. Auto Insurance Decision
Dec 17 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler issued a decision in the 2005 private passenger insurance rate case that will result in a statewide average rate decrease of 1.69 percent next year. The new rate...
Mass. 2005 Car Insurance Decision Due Today
Dec 15 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler is expected to announce today, Dec. 15, her decision setting private passenger auto insurance rates for 2005. The final briefs in the 2005 private passenger auto...
For Mass. Insurance Agents, AG Reilly No Ally
Dec 14 2004 // Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is expected to run for governor, has a history of making life difficult for the state’s independent insurance agents. Last week, the Massachusetts Association of...
Big Dig Managers Face $100M Mass. Lawsuit
Dec 9 2004 // The independent agency charged with overseeing the $14.6 billion Massachusetts highway project known as the Big Dig intends to sue the consortium that managed the venture, seeking to recover as much as $100 million in...
Mass. Commissioner Facing Facts About Auto System
Dec 6 2004 // It’s time for Massachusetts to face the facts about its old ways of tightly regulating private passenger auto insurance and create a modern day system, Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler told agents...
For Mass. Independent Agents, State Attorney General Reilly is No Ally
Dec 6 2004 // Even as Massachusetts tackles the challenge of making the state’s private passenger auto system more like that in other states (see story page 18), independent insurance agents must continue to play by the...
States Reach $120 Million Claims Agreement with UnumProvident
Dec 6 2004 // A multi-state settlement with UnumProvident Corp. over its disputed handling of disability claims would cost the firm more than $120 million to comply and require it to review more than seven years of claims. It also calls...
Big Lead Paint Settlement Reached in Mass.
Nov 26 2004 // State and federal officials plan to announce a lead paint settlement in that will require a prominent Boston real estate company to test for and remove lead paint from more than 7,000 apartments in Massachusetts. Officials...
Mass. Approves New Residual Auto Plan
Nov 23 2004 // After years of industry complaints and months of wrangling among regulators, carriers, voluntary agents, involuntary agents, consumers and lawmakers, Massachusetts has overhauled its system of insuring high risk...
